tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22653179475035634002017-02-08T20:56:44.645-08:00Singularly BlessedSingle and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-43924868438157583062016-02-21T05:39:00.002-08:002016-02-21T05:39:43.640-08:00Just Keep Swimming Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLFnkInoiZ4/Vsm7cjIGALI/AAAAAAAAArI/Sz7iFbYZJ60/s1600/DSC_0414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLFnkInoiZ4/Vsm7cjIGALI/AAAAAAAAArI/Sz7iFbYZJ60/s320/DSC_0414.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />I can't remember if I've mentioned it on the blog or not, but I have had the most marvelous opportunity this year. I got to swim on my college's DII swim team! Crazy, right? I mean, I'm a grad student, I've only swum for a year and a half, and my times are still quite slow (because I've only swum for the aforesaid year and a half). Here's the story:<br /><br />Last year as swimming was becoming increasingly important to me, a few things happened. First, I read about college swimming and wished so much I had started earlier so I could have had a chance to experience it. Then, at a swim meet, someone found out I went to Converse and said, "Oh you should swim for Corey! He needs swimmers." I was like oh yeah but I'm a grad student and just a beginner swimmer and blah blah. Then, my brother asked if I had ever thought about swimming on Converse's team and I was like well you know I really don't think I could etc. But, nevertheless, the idea had been planted, and I then remembered my other brother who had walked on to a college team - he ended up quitting - but still it reminded me that these things do happen. Of course, he had been already swimming for a few years, but still. So, one day, on a whim, I looked up information about Converse's swim team. And then, I emailed the coach. I said something along the lines of I had just started swimming and I was really slow but I was really passionate about swimming and a hard worker and I wanted to get better at swimming and experience what college swimming was like and I was wondering if there was any possibility of my walking on to the team. I wrote the email, hit send, and immediately regretted it. I mean, what in the world was I thinking??! I had only been doing competitive swimming for about 6 or 7 months at this point and I knew I was a lot slower than everyone on the team and that they had all been swimming for years! The coach was going to think I was completely insane and laugh at me. I HATE being laughed at. (Well when I'm being serious that is. I <i>am </i>rather funny so I get laughed at a lot but that's different than made fun of about something I am completely serious about and putting myself on the line about). I comforted myself with the fact that the coach had no idea who I was and our paths weren't going to cross, so eventually he would forget about the incriminating email and that would be that. I didn't hear from him for a couple weeks, so that confirmed my fears. And then one day, I got an email that said he was having the compliance officer check into my eligibility. I was like hmmm ok! *tightly crossed fingers* Then a few days later he wrote and said it would be possible for me to compete for a year if I wanted &nbsp;to come and talk about what would be involved with him. Did I ever! I basically dropped what I was doing and rushed to Converse so I could talk with him. He said he would work with me for a few weeks and see what he thought at the end of that time. I was soooo excited! I was determined to work super hard and do everything in my power to make the team. At the end of the few weeks, he said I most likely could swim with the team in the fall but he would let me know at the end of the summer. He also gave me some goals to work on over the summer. I was beyond excited. And my motivation had already been super high - now it was through the roof! I worked super hard. My coaches Mark, Carolyn, and Deb at Greenville Splash (a masters team) helped me work on my technique and gave me test sets to see where I was at with the goals that Corey had given me. At the end of the summer, I got an official letter offering me a position on the team. Such a happy day!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />This year of doing college swimming (or really 7 months) has been incredible. It has been very difficult at times and I have had all kinds of setbacks I was not expecting. But it has also been such a neat experience and a lot of fun. It has stretched me and helped me to grow. Corey is a great coach and I have learned a lot from him. And I have dropped time. Not as much as I wanted to - but to be fair, probably the amount I wanted to drop wasn't realistic. Corey is always telling me it is a process - it's not going to happen overnight. I don't think patience is my strong point lol. And I have had sickness, injuries, and family crises that have slowed me down - literally. But still, I celebrate every personal best and every teeny bit of progress. I can't believe the season is over - I am incredibly sad! But I am beyond grateful to Corey (and to God!) for giving me this opportunity. I will always have these amazing memories. And just because the season is over, no way is my swimming career over! I have barely started! I want to see how good I can get at swimming - I mean who knows what I can do or how fast I can get? I am determined to find out just what I can do in the sport. I am sure I will fail and have more setbacks and injuries but as long as I keep persevering and working hard who knows what will happen! My motto? Dory said it best, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-slOGNxd4qJw/Vsm6g7Y--WI/AAAAAAAAAqM/lF2A6udlb2o/s1600/12295350_10207923284470855_4536796474651612099_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-slOGNxd4qJw/Vsm6g7Y--WI/AAAAAAAAAqM/lF2A6udlb2o/s320/12295350_10207923284470855_4536796474651612099_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3N6UkfxWq6Y/Vsm6jWokWEI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/tivd2dmAero/s1600/11888065_648355908868_6052648010804839984_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3N6UkfxWq6Y/Vsm6jWokWEI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/tivd2dmAero/s320/11888065_648355908868_6052648010804839984_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QAbkdzwE8TM/Vsm82bomSjI/AAAAAAAAAro/snm0varaCvU/s1600/10414500_10206498693683567_119397729801808043_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QAbkdzwE8TM/Vsm82bomSjI/AAAAAAAAAro/snm0varaCvU/s320/10414500_10206498693683567_119397729801808043_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-af3E9ondl8k/Vsm82b9h0dI/AAAAAAAAArk/TGeKDTQig00/s1600/12079644_651371176248_6389007491177711068_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-af3E9ondl8k/Vsm82b9h0dI/AAAAAAAAArk/TGeKDTQig00/s320/12079644_651371176248_6389007491177711068_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-68481670607364994402016-01-29T15:46:00.001-08:002016-01-29T15:46:46.962-08:00StolenI've discovered something. He loves to take what's rightfully mine. My joy. My motivation. My peace. He's so cruel and so sneaky. And so...well...<i>deceptive.&nbsp;</i>You all know who I'm talking about. That ugly old devil. And you know how he does it? By making me feel guilty, condemned, unworthy. By holding my failures to my face and rubbing them in it. By relentlessly pounding my doubts through my mind. Sometimes he uses my own doubts and feelings of failure and sometimes he uses other people and my inability to please them and live up to their standards. Either way, the result is the same. My exuberant joy and zest for life is sucked out of me, my peace of mind is completely wrecked, and my motivation, drive, zeal, and passion are totally quenched. I wish I didn't listen to him every time. But he makes it all sound so <i>true. </i>And sometimes perhaps it is true - I have messed up or been less than or not met that or the other expectation. And other times I have really done the best that I possibly can but he makes me feel that it just wasn't good enough. But, a couple things:<br /><br />1. I am enough in Christ. I have to remember that God has covered me with Jesus' blood and I am under grace.<br /><br />2. No one is perfect. I don't know where I have gotten this notion but somehow I have it in my head that I am the only one that fails or messes up. Or maybe just that my mistakes are worse than everyone else's. But this simply isn't true.<br /><br />3. Since <i>no one</i> is perfect, <i>I</i> am not perfect, and I am therefore going to mess up. So, when it happens, I need to forgive myself and put it behind me. I saw/read/heard something about how great athletes have short memories. They put their failures and mistakes behind them as soon as they happen and move on. I think it's a good life principle as well. Unfortunately, I tend to do the opposite i.e. beat myself up over the mistake or failure over and over and over again. Mistakes are going to happen. I can't change them. I need to find out what I can learn from them for the future and then move on.<br /><br />4. I can not actually control whether or not I please other people. And technically it isn't my job. Small confession.. I am a people pleaser. Just in general. I mean, random stranger I meet at the grocery store? Guess what. I want them to like me, think well of me, be pleased with my actions, appearance, etc. Now multiply that times a million (I exaggerate only slightly) for any authority figure in my life. Teachers, coaches, bosses, etc. I would basically do anything (within legal and moral bounds just to be clear) to please them and earn their approval, respect, and trust. And if I feel that for any reason I have let them down or failed at this mission of pleasing them, I am crushed. Totally crushed. But, the truth is I cannot actually make people like me or be pleased with me. It is possible that even if I was the most perfect person, student, athlete, or employee ever that it still would not be enough for some people. And since I can't actually be perfect (see point number three), there is even greater possibility that my best is just not going to be good enough for some people. And then there is also the possibility that they may actually be perfectly pleased but just not believe in expressing it or know how to express it. Whatever the case, I have got to stop worrying about what any person, authority figure or not, thinks of me and just do my best and believe in myself &nbsp;regardless if any one else does or not.<br /><br />5. I do not want Satan to win! I mean he is the enemy and all. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of stealing away my life from me.<br /><br />and finally...<br /><br />6. I have only this one life and I want to live it to the fullest, enjoy every droplet of it, and accomplish as much as I possibly can (actually more). So I am taking my joy and peace and motivation back. So there.Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-82197533039866791272016-01-22T09:56:00.002-08:002016-01-22T09:56:19.448-08:00Choosing to be Vulnerable?Today I was reading another chapter in a book I've been enjoying, <i>Let's All be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have</i>&nbsp;by Annie F. Downs &nbsp;(which is a Fabulous book by the way! I highly encourage you to read it!), when I came across this statement, "[Jesus] said yes to uncomfortable things....Like considering Judas one of his best friends, even when he knew, <i>he knew</i>, Judas would be the one to turn on him." It stopped me for a minute. Wow. Just Wow. I had never thought about it just like that before. I mean, I hate being rejected or betrayed. Or in any way criticized or thought bad of. So, to protect myself, if I think there is any chance that potential rejection could occur or people might talk bad behind my back, I will retreat inside myself, not share my most special thoughts or ideas, and try to avoid spending time with those people. I mean, makes sense, right? Like a perfectly natural and even <i>smart </i>idea. I mean, we're supposed to protect ourselves, aren't we? And yet what did Jesus do? He knew from before the world was even created that Judas was going to betray Him. And we're not talking just speak bad about Him or criticize Him or not fully value Him. We're talking hand Him over to people who were going to brutally torture and kill Him totally undeservedly! And yet He <i>sought </i>Judas out, purposely <i>chose </i>him, to be one of His elite group of followers. The inside circle of people He would spend the most time with, would know Him the most intimately, that He would share His most special thoughts and words of wisdom with. In modern terms, He chose Judas to be part of His squad! I honestly can't even imagine. Talk about being vulnerable. The awkward part is that since Jesus is our Role Model, I am supposed to follow His example in this. And I'm going to be completely honest with you - I'm not sure I know how to do that. But, I guess that's the good thing about Grace - I don't have to know how to do it or even be able to do it in my own strength because His grace is sufficient - Jesus can help me be open and vulnerable through Him. I have to admit - I'm still a little scared of this though. But I am trusting God to help me be brave. Courage is my word for this year after all! &nbsp;But still...:O *Gulp*<br /><br />Thanks for reading this little random thought flurry! :) I pray courage for all of us.<br /><br />Love,<br />&nbsp;Tiffany<br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-30801788863526612952015-06-09T18:01:00.000-07:002015-06-09T18:01:18.352-07:00Glimpses &nbsp; &nbsp; You know, I was thinking, it's kind of funny because ya'll kind of only see little bits of my life. I post about stuff and then months go by and it's not like my life stops, you know? But it would take too much time to try to cover everything that's happened so I just jump in with where I'm at. And where I'm at right now is....dun da dun da da....SUMMER BREAK!!!!! Yay!!! (Obligatory happy dance and *mental* cartwheels...since I can't actually do them...) Although technically the word "break" seems kind of inaccurate to describe my still very busy life and schedule. But aside from that....<div>Plans for the summer.....<div><br /></div><div>1. Summer job = hanging out with two hilarious and awesome boys all day and playing with them. This is pretty much the best summer job possible IMHO. We made an awesome summer bucket list of fun stuff to do and basically this gives me an excuse to be a kid all summer = what I was going to do anyway...:)</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Swimming = lots of major goals for the summer so I'm pretty much planning on working my butt off both at practice, on my own, and with dryland stuff. I'm excited to see what I can accomplish this summer!</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Piano-ing = lots of practice and lessons and tons of pieces to learn! I want to have a solid grip on my rep for my solo recital next year plus learn this duo and trio which I'm rehearsing and performing in the fall.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. Summer funness with my amazing friends! :D We have our own list of exciting ideas to try this summer!!</div><div><br /></div><div>5. Other random fun stuff/ projects/ goals = my own bucket list of random stuff to see and do and experience this summer!&nbsp;</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lQ65-1244Wg/VXeL7L2oL8I/AAAAAAAAAnU/uvv9rjoUyp0/s1600/11227922_643095066638_2135518391177597024_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lQ65-1244Wg/VXeL7L2oL8I/AAAAAAAAAnU/uvv9rjoUyp0/s320/11227922_643095066638_2135518391177597024_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sister and I at the end of a hike on Paris Mountain this Sunday</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's to an AMAZING summer!!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Love,</div><div>Tiffany</div>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-91598386932995557752015-02-19T06:25:00.001-08:002015-02-19T06:25:45.562-08:00To Read or Not to Read?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFpgpkA5T64/VOXx8nwaQ4I/AAAAAAAAAlY/hzB727TUwpY/s1600/5161-all-the-secrets-of-the-world-are-contained-in-books-read_380x280_width.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TFpgpkA5T64/VOXx8nwaQ4I/AAAAAAAAAlY/hzB727TUwpY/s1600/5161-all-the-secrets-of-the-world-are-contained-in-books-read_380x280_width.png" height="185" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Reading and I kind of have a love/ hate relationship. When I was little, I read all.the.time. I have always been a very fast reader and I would read for hours on end and devour books in record time. But as I got older, two things happened. 1. My attention span got shorter (don't ask me how this happened - I don't think it's supposed to work like that) and 2. I ran out of books I was interested in. See, kids' books are basically amazing. Interesting stuff happens in them but nothing too terrible or depressing. And I don't know, they just have a certain charm about them. Adult fiction is often dirty, frequently deals with depressing subjects, or is cheesy romance. Bleck. So between my difficulty in sitting still to read and the lack of good subject matter, the amount of time I spent reading went down, down, down. Then enter the world of biographies. I found out that I really enjoyed reading books about people who had achieved interesting and inspirational things in their lives. So I read all kinds of books about ice skaters, gymnasts, musicians, and now swimmers. I still can only stand to read for short amounts of time and &nbsp;I've started doing other things at the same time like reading while I eat lunch or stretching while I read or stuff like that. It keeps me engaged longer. But still. It's good reading. It inspires me to work harder and not waste my life, it's fascinating, and it doesn't feel like I'm filling my mind with garbage.<br /><br /><br />So far this year, I have read some fascinating books:&nbsp;<i>Staying Focused </i>about Noelle Pikus Pace, Olympic skeleton racer,&nbsp;<i>No Limits </i>about Michael Phelps, Olympic swimmer,&nbsp;<i>Gifted Hands </i>about Ben Carson<i>, </i>the first neuro-surgeon to successfully separate Siamese twins joined at the head (and both twins survive),<i>&nbsp;</i>and&nbsp;<i>Champions Are Raised not Born </i>about Olympic swimmer, Summer Sanders. I have also listened via audio book to <i>The Magic of Thinking Big </i>by David Schwartz and <i>Failing Forward </i>by John Maxwell - both excellent books that really challenged me to examine the way I think about what I can or cannot do or attempt!&nbsp;These books have all been extremely inspiring and intriguing, and I would definitely recommend them!&nbsp;&nbsp;I am currently in the middle of <i>&nbsp;Monsters and Angels: Surviving a Career in Music&nbsp;</i>about Seymour Bernstein, a pianist and composer &nbsp;and <i>Gold in the Water&nbsp;</i>about some elite swimmers and their journey to the Olympics. I am also reading a book of poetry by William Butler Yates. Additionally, I'm in the middle of an audio book version of <i>Anna Karenina </i>by Tolstoy&nbsp;(which I can definitely only take in small doses!), and I just started an audio book version of <i>Today Matters </i>by John Maxwell.&nbsp;After I finish the books I'm currently reading, I hope to read <i>Unbroken, </i>about an Olympic runner, soldier, and POW, and <i>Age is Just a Number, </i>about Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres. Perhaps also a book by Paul Coehlo! So, you can see, I have rediscovered a love for reading! There is still the small problem of finding <i>time </i>to read but ya know....one obstacle at a time! :)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3BuePYpQmX4/VOXx8q3vRtI/AAAAAAAAAlc/-FA_GuAj6IE/s1600/1e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3BuePYpQmX4/VOXx8q3vRtI/AAAAAAAAAlc/-FA_GuAj6IE/s1600/1e.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><br />What books do you like to read? I hope you have books you enjoy and that you are able to squeeze in a little time to read them!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKchorOAY5s/VOXx8gBIe9I/AAAAAAAAAlU/cQqhTNdPjF0/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKchorOAY5s/VOXx8gBIe9I/AAAAAAAAAlU/cQqhTNdPjF0/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div><br />Love, TiffanySingle and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-19046432939464780492015-02-18T06:11:00.000-08:002015-02-18T06:11:05.665-08:00Frozen - South Carolina StyleGuess what!?! Elsa graced us with some of her icy magic Monday night! While some people may have not been happy and while it might not seem like much in the way of winter weather to our Northern neighbors, at least three people could not have been more delighted - my brother, Matt, my sister, Bethany, and moi! :) We were antsy with anticipation Sunday and Monday, hoping, hoping that some sort of frozen precipitation would actually occur. Monday night when nothing besides a few flurries had materialized, we were gloomily eating supper and sadly going about our business (OK so actually that's a lie - we were actually greedily devouring supper with a great deal of enjoyment and having fun working puzzles with my grandpa but still, we were feeling disappointed) when Sofi, my dog, needed to go for a walk. We step outside and what to our wondering eyes should appear but beautiful snow falling here!!! OK so maybe it wasn't *exactly* snow but it was definitely snow-like and totally thrilling to see! AND it was sticking! We tromped all around the yard in it, threw ice balls at each other, attempted to make ice angels, and built a tiny snowman, whom we named Olaf Junior. It was super fun. When we were cold enough that everything <i>but</i>&nbsp;our hearts was frozen, we went inside and got in our warm, fuzzy pajamas and drank hot chocolate and sat at the kitchen table and played games and worked puzzles. Then, we all snuggled in my mom's bed and watched <i>Alexander and the Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.&nbsp;</i><br /><i><br /></i>A couple videos of our excitement.....<br /><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630864856078&amp;l=9212972871595568745">https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630864856078&amp;l=9212972871595568745</a></i><br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630864746298&amp;l=7480029969924600221">https://ww</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630864746298&amp;l=7480029969924600221">w.facebook.com/video.php?v=630864746298&amp;l=7480029969924600221</a><br /><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DREaYWidkGU/VOSb7izo8eI/AAAAAAAAAk0/K87IBXXNESw/s1600/10426291_630792800478_1079283398189162108_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DREaYWidkGU/VOSb7izo8eI/AAAAAAAAAk0/K87IBXXNESw/s1600/10426291_630792800478_1079283398189162108_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olaf Junior!</td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KqHrX7Ha9AU/VOSb7lhzTTI/AAAAAAAAAk4/hBZdXV_4ud8/s1600/10675711_630797401258_5783543248228612725_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KqHrX7Ha9AU/VOSb7lhzTTI/AAAAAAAAAk4/hBZdXV_4ud8/s1600/10675711_630797401258_5783543248228612725_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETmfCvi8EW4/VOSb7vuvDQI/AAAAAAAAAk8/AZNg6tewfWM/s1600/10484930_630797550958_5188571337408112972_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETmfCvi8EW4/VOSb7vuvDQI/AAAAAAAAAk8/AZNg6tewfWM/s1600/10484930_630797550958_5188571337408112972_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The next morning, we awoke to find that even more snow-ice had come during the night. Swim practice was canceled, school was canceled, the roads were icy, so we gave ourselves up to the amazingness of a snow day. My mom made french toast for breakfast and then we bundled up and went outside to play in the frozen delight. The best part was "sledding" down my grandparents' driveway on cardboard boxes! It was super fun although we kind of turned the slush on the street below into a puddle with repeated sliding, which meant every time we went down, we landed in a little pool of frozen water! There might as well have been swim practice - it would have been warmer and I probably wouldn't have gotten any wetter than I did with the sledding haha! We were FREEZING and WET but we kept going until we had destroyed every bit of cardboard my grandpa had scavenged for us. It was SOOOO fun!! :D<br /><br />Me sledding!<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630834387138&amp;l=4471769927252591469">https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=630834387138&amp;l=4471769927252591469</a><br /><br />We spent the rest of the day with games and crossword puzzles and hot chocolate and baking cookies. It was the BEST day EVER!! :D<br /><br />Hope you are staying warm and taking some time for some winter FUN wherever you are!<br /><br />Love, Tiffany<br /><i><br /></i>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-68373585618820507312015-02-08T06:04:00.001-08:002015-02-08T06:07:49.587-08:00Second Meet = Basically a ProLast weekend I went to my second swim meet! I enjoyed it more than the first one - I think because this time I knew a little more what was going on. And even if I still felt halfway clueless, that is way better than completely clueless! Right? Right. It got off to a kind of rocky start because when I went to drop my dog off at the kennel, they told me they had never gotten a copy of her vaccination records from the vet. I had left my number when I made the reservations with instructions to call me if there were any problems...did they? NOPE. And they absolutely refused to let her stay without the records. I didn't know what on earth I was going to do...I needed to be on the road RIGHT.THEN to get to the meet on time. I was praying and freaking out and trying not to completely lose it. God was so gracious that he allowed my awesome piano teacher and his wife to kindly and graciously agree to watch her for me. As it turned out, they fell in love with my sweet little Sofi. It was so sweet because they kept sending me updates and pictures of her. They even facetimed me once so I could see her! :)<br /><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Anyhow, so I eventually made it to the meet - but I missed my first event. :( I was rather sad about this and pretty stressed by this point but I had to get over it and move on mentally to the rest of my events. The good news is that (with the exception of 50 breast that I got DQed in = more sadness) I lowered all my times!!! :) That's what my goal was for the meet so I was pretty happy. I learned from my teammates that a great way to keep up with when your event is is to write your event and heat and lane numbers on your hand. Which I did. I also printed off the programs before I got there and highlighted my events. Bam. So, this meet I knew where I was supposed to be and when. That was a huge improvement from last time when I didn't even get a copy of the program until the second day and was kinda lost about where I was supposed to be and how this whole meet thing worked. Oops. I was also prepared for any down time with my trusty old cell phone and ipod and the delights of trivia crack and facetiming my sister. Oh and lots of snacks. Unfortunately, there was surprisingly little downtime so I hardly got to eat any of my snacks and only got to play a little bit of my games and music. Oh well. I guess *technically* I'm there to swim not play trivia crack and eat grapes anyway.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN4uMbvzQx4/VNdo6Ry_dCI/AAAAAAAAAkA/jBt_t9ghUys/s1600/21202_781143345307098_2949552365307988928_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QN4uMbvzQx4/VNdo6Ry_dCI/AAAAAAAAAkA/jBt_t9ghUys/s1600/21202_781143345307098_2949552365307988928_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my "Game Face." It only took me like 5 tries before I could keep it long enough for the picture without busting out laughing!! haha</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br /></div><div>Saturday night we had a team dinner which was pretty fun! I get really, really hyper at meets so I wanted to play games and have a bunch of fun that night but everyone else said they were too tired to play games. Bummer. I'm going to have to work on convincing them how fun games are...Coach Carolyn *promised* that at the next meet we would play games...which I am totally going to hold her to. I was officially inducted into the team that night though - by receiving my special Greenville Splash monogrammed underwear. It's a team tradition to receive these when you do an overnight meet with the team. I am not sure whether to be excited that I am now an official member, disturbed that we have "team undies," or embarrassed that we were being given underwear in the middle of a restaurant on a Saturday night! haha Anywho.......</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tlBE1bGpB10/VNdpcd1wspI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/Fx4FsmUMh4E/s1600/10551072_781142215307211_3482792035626258809_n%2B(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tlBE1bGpB10/VNdpcd1wspI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/Fx4FsmUMh4E/s1600/10551072_781142215307211_3482792035626258809_n%2B(1).jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7kipr15R8w/VNdo573cizI/AAAAAAAAAjw/xlu8HsbITfw/s1600/10325719_10204776013257633_487776772725734038_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7kipr15R8w/VNdo573cizI/AAAAAAAAAjw/xlu8HsbITfw/s1600/10325719_10204776013257633_487776772725734038_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My crazy team!</td></tr></tbody></table><div>I made myself go to bed instead of hanging out in the hotel lobby like the last meet but I'm afraid I still didn't sleep well. Meets just make me too full of adrenaline and I just can't calm down! :O Maybe this will get better with time....The second day I continued lowering my times but I was tired....(think not calming down enough to sleep could have anything to do with that?? Nah. Must be something else.) &nbsp;Our team came in first place from the out of state teams (5 years in a row!) and 2nd overall - out of 39 teams with 5 teams who had more people! I think I'm part of a pretty amazing team. :D</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5k6rkuU3gc/VNdo5wSc1QI/AAAAAAAAAj0/UfomUDnWwQ8/s1600/10349001_781146941973405_8019599487274939008_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5k6rkuU3gc/VNdo5wSc1QI/AAAAAAAAAj0/UfomUDnWwQ8/s1600/10349001_781146941973405_8019599487274939008_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNhXup0c540/VNdo59V1O2I/AAAAAAAAAj8/y8gSK22sIjw/s1600/10959907_781142361973863_1247185719741570999_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNhXup0c540/VNdo59V1O2I/AAAAAAAAAj8/y8gSK22sIjw/s1600/10959907_781142361973863_1247185719741570999_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought Coach Mark and Tracy needed some help with their image...aka bunny ears....I guess I'm basically &nbsp;10 haha</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>I can't wait until the next meet - in 2 weeks!! :) Here's to working my butt off between now and then so I can lower my times some more!</div></div>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-44420761850162993212015-01-25T18:30:00.001-08:002015-01-25T18:30:22.624-08:00Of Mistletoe and New Beginnings and Ordinary HappeningsYeah. So um I've been meaning to blog ever since some time before Christmas. By now ya'll know how it goes for me....I plan all kinds of awesome posts IN MY MIND....and yeah then they stop there. Excuses for why this happens:<br /><br />1. I am constantly on the go with a million and one things to do every.single.minute.<br />2. If I am ever not on the go, I am asleep.<br />3. In the rare moments that I am not busy or asleep, I want to be lazy and do something mindless like scroll through Facebook or something. (Actually it is a good thing that I have Facebook on my phone. Otherwise I would probably never get on there either. Or is that a bad thing....Hmmm I'll get back to you on that one.)<br /><br />OK so now that we got that out of the way....down to the substance of this post - which is actually hard to ascertain. See, at first I was going to write a post about Christmas but now that's just so last year (See what I did there??). But it seems a shame to ignore it completely when it was so nice and all. So then I was going to write a post about the New Year and how awesome it is to see it all stretched out before you with all kinds of amazing possibilities.,,,,and no mistakes in it yet (kind of like what &nbsp;Anne of Green Gables said). But now that was rather a long time ago and a lot of life has happened since then. So I decided to kind of smush all of those topics together into one Goulash kind of a blog post. So here goes....<br /><br />First of all....Christmas. It can be described in two words - Awesome and Microscopic. In other words, it was super amazing and I had so much fun with my family but it felt like it was about three hours instead of three weeks. I was not ready to leave them. Sniff. It was so fun to have everyone together though and lots of baking and eating and laughing and movies and general Ours family <strike>craziness </strike>&nbsp;awesomeness happened. And I got a swim bag which was pretty much so happy. I get great enjoyment out of using it every day. #itsthelittlethings Some people including me got sick which was kind of a bummer so we won't spend time talking about that.<br /><br />Second of all.....New Years. Well, actually I was sick for New Years so yeah....BUT not so sick that my brain couldn't dream and plan and be filled with all kinds of inspiring thoughts. Plus, since I was sick, I took the time to read three books I had been wanting to read: No Limits by Michael Phelps, Gifted Hands by Ben Carson, and Staying Focused by Noelle Pikus Pace. Three amazing books about three spectacular people who achieved amazing things in their respective fields and overcame all kinds of obstacles. I want to do something extraordinary with my life. Or maybe many extraordinary things! I don't want to settle for average though that is for sure. I don't know exactly what God has for me but I don't want to waste any opportunities or let any obstacles stand in my way! I love the start of brand new years because they are a great time to remind myself of all I want to accomplish and thank God for the achievements of the past year. Time keeps flying by faster than ever which just makes me more determined than ever to make the absolute most out of each day!<br /><br />Third of all....Life in general. January is probably not my most favorite month in the world because it's kind of a let down after all of the excitement of Christmas. But, I have so very much to be thankful for and lots to keep me busy, so I try to focus on that. Piano, school, swimming, church, friends....makes for a very full life!! There is a swim meet coming up next weekend so that is pretty much super exciting and terrifying, I am preparing for my graduate chamber ensemble recital in March which is also super exciting and terrifying and Jan term is coming to a close very quickly (4 credit hours in 4 weeks? Like a boss baby!) which is also rather terrifying in a way because I have to get those last assignments finished haha and exciting as we start spring term.<br /><br />Yep so how is that for a nutshell super fast synopsis of my life these past few weeks? I technically probably should upload some pics but I'm feeling kinda lazy and plus I really need to get to bed! Yeah you heard that right....yeah it's only 9:30ish but I found out that I have to try to get a little bit of sleep if I want to give 100 percent to my swim and piano practice. It's kind of a bummer seeing as I have way too many interesting things to do to sleep. But yearh I'm trying. And 4:00 am does come awfully quickly! :0<br /><br />Best wishes to all of you as you try to live out your New Year's resolutions! &nbsp;Don't give up when the going gets tough! You can do it!! :)<br /><br />Love,<br />Tiffany<br /><br />"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time&gt;"<br /><br />Thomas Edison<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-37684363097740946592014-12-15T19:13:00.002-08:002014-12-15T19:20:58.380-08:00It's Beginning to Look (and Feel) a Lot Like Christmas!Guess what??!!! I'm finally on Christmas Break!! First semester of grad school = Beasted! I must say, it feels pretty amazing! :D<br /><br />The last week as I was finishing up with final papers, lessons, and playing for people's juries (music performance final exams), I also made some time to hang out with friends and do Christmassy stuff!<br />My former Spanish professor and I had been trying to get together all term - we hadn't seen each other in several years - but our schedules never matched so that we could meet up. Last week, though, we were finally able to meet for lunch. It was great to see him - he was a super influential person in my life. I was also able to meet a new friend from my swim team for lunch - which we had also been wanting to do for a few months. Tuesday night, we had a party for my swim team - we sang Christmas carols and I played the piano. It was lots of fun. I brought these cute little cookies:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zbV1INGSaBg/VI-X2xMWikI/AAAAAAAAAgM/wvzt_miRvEc/s1600/1532088_623008679918_6983590998005266324_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zbV1INGSaBg/VI-X2xMWikI/AAAAAAAAAgM/wvzt_miRvEc/s1600/1532088_623008679918_6983590998005266324_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My friends and I also had a fun lunch for Katherine's birthday, which we also made be an ugly sweater Christmas party. Except - some of the people didn't get the memo, so only like three of us wore ugly sweaters. Mine was a sweater which I then pinned a dog toy too! haha It was so much fun to hang out together and eat Katherine's delicious lunch she made for us (I mean, she was the birthday girl and she still cooked! Great friend, huh!?!). It was a blast!!! I laugh so so much every time I hang out with these fabulous ladies!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yx7TpgtIfQY/VI-bNMdRcrI/AAAAAAAAAhI/aC1JbobnFUA/s1600/10309355_622648626468_5655525869125151183_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yx7TpgtIfQY/VI-bNMdRcrI/AAAAAAAAAhI/aC1JbobnFUA/s1600/10309355_622648626468_5655525869125151183_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LNR-fGim1Rc/VI-bWQ1JZ2I/AAAAAAAAAhg/4IphXQovGjk/s1600/10407451_623552874348_8503124321645830340_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LNR-fGim1Rc/VI-bWQ1JZ2I/AAAAAAAAAhg/4IphXQovGjk/s1600/10407451_623552874348_8503124321645830340_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYww0ZmEqD4/VI-btuVc1PI/AAAAAAAAAiM/OYHB52ziz6A/s1600/10857846_623552789518_5871197242541341293_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYww0ZmEqD4/VI-btuVc1PI/AAAAAAAAAiM/OYHB52ziz6A/s1600/10857846_623552789518_5871197242541341293_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also snuck in a visit to my grandparents and an awesome Elf party with the Pruetts - whom I have known for years and years but haven't seen for a while! We drank hot chocolate and watched Elf and ate nutella and other snacks by the fire. Unfortunately, I had to finish a final exam during the first half of the movie, and as soon as I finished the exam and sat still, I fell asleep! haha but it was still fun. Friday night I had a little sleepover with my former piano teacher, Mrs. Davies. She is a barrel of fun! We went out to dinner and watched Christmas netflix movies until we were too sleepy to stay up any later. Saturday was an absolute blast - my friends and I went ice skating and to the Roper Mountain Holiday Lights. That night was the big swim team Christmas party which was super fun. To make it even better, I convinced my sister Ashlyn to come to it with me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fe-yoZ7CHho/VI-a_KuolhI/AAAAAAAAAgY/ffmy99pzNSc/s1600/10847922_623263125008_1074377907905682252_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fe-yoZ7CHho/VI-a_KuolhI/AAAAAAAAAgY/ffmy99pzNSc/s1600/10847922_623263125008_1074377907905682252_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also spent some time making my room full of Christmas cheer and making and decorating a big batch of sugar cookies to bring to the swim Christmas party.&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_JQ3bRRbPM/VI-bnd5zotI/AAAAAAAAAh4/-y_5l8jJvTs/s1600/10696182_623051439228_8086691733471240530_n%2B(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_JQ3bRRbPM/VI-bnd5zotI/AAAAAAAAAh4/-y_5l8jJvTs/s1600/10696182_623051439228_8086691733471240530_n%2B(1).jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4iepejAy0w/VI-btohStvI/AAAAAAAAAiI/eaLlXvMqh28/s1600/10850325_623051414278_3537526609631961423_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4iepejAy0w/VI-btohStvI/AAAAAAAAAiI/eaLlXvMqh28/s1600/10850325_623051414278_3537526609631961423_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iU1gziiSdag/VI-bNO_WKLI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Eew8H7Trtcc/s1600/1510537_623242022298_4800902726038209950_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iU1gziiSdag/VI-bNO_WKLI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Eew8H7Trtcc/s1600/1510537_623242022298_4800902726038209950_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Rp6us7ldms/VI-bWbN3bvI/AAAAAAAAAhY/Sd5KqeVKK7c/s1600/10390541_623190735078_1178719824736766057_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Rp6us7ldms/VI-bWbN3bvI/AAAAAAAAAhY/Sd5KqeVKK7c/s1600/10390541_623190735078_1178719824736766057_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cgtN6e5dwQo/VI-bE8BeSRI/AAAAAAAAAgs/0Th59pe1ddk/s1600/1425614_623190665218_5250547833760342201_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cgtN6e5dwQo/VI-bE8BeSRI/AAAAAAAAAgs/0Th59pe1ddk/s1600/1425614_623190665218_5250547833760342201_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e6mTw59PrnY/VI-bE-1a4hI/AAAAAAAAAgo/C5f7h5ekRAQ/s1600/988958_623190700148_2572432528010996441_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e6mTw59PrnY/VI-bE-1a4hI/AAAAAAAAAgo/C5f7h5ekRAQ/s1600/988958_623190700148_2572432528010996441_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xs9RfzUopQE/VI-bncHI4VI/AAAAAAAAAhw/U4rC8ezkcp4/s1600/10410759_623190765018_3990828170429277471_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xs9RfzUopQE/VI-bncHI4VI/AAAAAAAAAhw/U4rC8ezkcp4/s1600/10410759_623190765018_3990828170429277471_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZWi4xfjN_4/VI-cBrDOZLI/AAAAAAAAAio/PeEzeSINf4w/s1600/10846338_623190720108_2232239902444808185_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZWi4xfjN_4/VI-cBrDOZLI/AAAAAAAAAio/PeEzeSINf4w/s1600/10846338_623190720108_2232239902444808185_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br />And yesterday I got to come home!! So happy to be with my family and so excited to do tons of fun Christmassy activities! I love Christmas sooooo much. My little brother is so sweet - he made a bucket list while I was still at school of things for us to do together when I got home.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teg1SDRFmrc/VI-cGaxo3NI/AAAAAAAAAiw/zj11EQHdDB8/s1600/10801511_623321817388_3662878043814960395_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teg1SDRFmrc/VI-cGaxo3NI/AAAAAAAAAiw/zj11EQHdDB8/s1600/10801511_623321817388_3662878043814960395_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WU363QZpla4/VI-bWX9Vs7I/AAAAAAAAAhc/zE-g1e_-3dE/s1600/10394519_623319611808_4677861704426136134_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WU363QZpla4/VI-bWX9Vs7I/AAAAAAAAAhc/zE-g1e_-3dE/s1600/10394519_623319611808_4677861704426136134_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The break is already off to an awesome start - in addition to swim practice and piano practice - we've watched like 3 Christmas movies, played some games, and made gingerbread cookies! And I've only been home for like 36 hours! Can't wait to see what else we do!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDZ-15Vsgl4/VI-bnQhl0oI/AAAAAAAAAh0/M9zy_JGiGFk/s1600/10419068_623549081948_5855586609698777977_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MDZ-15Vsgl4/VI-bnQhl0oI/AAAAAAAAAh0/M9zy_JGiGFk/s1600/10419068_623549081948_5855586609698777977_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mz56iMwkMd4/VI-a_RFoU_I/AAAAAAAAAgc/HoZlkg7iUuA/s1600/10850235_623549066978_3729045587580466137_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mz56iMwkMd4/VI-a_RFoU_I/AAAAAAAAAgc/HoZlkg7iUuA/s1600/10850235_623549066978_3729045587580466137_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wishing you all a fun advent season!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love, Tiffany</div><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-7133104010074357492014-12-14T18:04:00.000-08:002014-12-14T18:04:43.311-08:00Just Keep SwimmingSo last weekend I went to my first swim meet! It was absolutely terrifying and kinda awesome all at the same time. I had never even been to a swim meet as a spectator before let alone swum in one so I had no idea what to expect. My coaches helped me though and explained what to do and when to do it. I competed in the 50 free, 50 back, 100 free, and 100 IM. I also swam 50 free as part of a few relays with my team. I was also supposed to compete in the 50 breast but cute story..........I kinda missed it. My coach said the events went by really fast and so I should be behind the blocks by the time she was finishing her race...and so I did. Somehow I must have zoned out....I'm not really sure....just I was waiting and waiting and feeling nervous and then the timing guy asked me if I was Tiffany and said I was supposed to be in his lane and then people were diving in and I was like "Did I miss it?" and he was like "Uh yeah." I'm still not exactly sure how it happened....<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLpLyuOozbE/VI5A3rzsCRI/AAAAAAAAAf8/XnoZVs5-9kM/s1600/10351480_1548037485441427_8355118040878790388_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLpLyuOozbE/VI5A3rzsCRI/AAAAAAAAAf8/XnoZVs5-9kM/s1600/10351480_1548037485441427_8355118040878790388_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I think I came in last...I'm still super slow...but you know what, that's OK. Well, actually it's not - I'm dying to get faster and am very impatient about how long it's taking me to get where I want to go - but the point is I've only been swimming for a few months and when I started, I didn't think I would ever be able to swim in a swim meet or at least it would be a very long time before I would be ready. But guess what? I've already done my first one! And I am not going to stay this slow - I'm going to keep working and get much faster! Also, there is one very good thing about being last - the only way to go is up!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-00rkhg-X-Hc/VI5AvuaWVyI/AAAAAAAAAf0/4bGco7H7ZKA/s1600/10847798_747765258644907_1260449293680004877_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-00rkhg-X-Hc/VI5AvuaWVyI/AAAAAAAAAf0/4bGco7H7ZKA/s1600/10847798_747765258644907_1260449293680004877_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-35374401645456771742014-12-06T21:39:00.001-08:002014-12-06T21:41:40.170-08:00So Much to Be Thankful ForI hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I certainly did. I kicked it off a bit early with a whirlwind weekend trip home where all my family (with the exception of my dear sweet Abby) was able to be home *at the same time* (I know right?? so shocking...it is pretty much a pre-Christmas miracle)...to celebrate Sarah Brooke's first birthday and dedication in church. It was great to see everyone. We did lots of fun familyish types of things including going to a 10 pm showing of Mockingjay with the sibs. We also managed to snap a shot of the family together.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ABeN8qVTFXg/VIPehs_cO9I/AAAAAAAAAew/hrPKzwCxONU/s1600/10410646_621719972498_7098322795033503693_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ABeN8qVTFXg/VIPehs_cO9I/AAAAAAAAAew/hrPKzwCxONU/s1600/10410646_621719972498_7098322795033503693_n.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div><br />Then it was back to Spartanburg for two days before heading back for Thanksgiving!! Wednesday was a whirlwhind of trying to squeeze in swim practice, piano practice, family time, and the all-important task of baking pies!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcUVLEGRxsY/VIPfTqT2AYI/AAAAAAAAAe4/tQ9fvR4nxuE/s1600/10441024_621918823998_1697764990452323555_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dcUVLEGRxsY/VIPfTqT2AYI/AAAAAAAAAe4/tQ9fvR4nxuE/s1600/10441024_621918823998_1697764990452323555_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WfRhwHiJBds/VIPnQ0QNemI/AAAAAAAAAfg/k6VPdytNoNA/s1600/10805692_621958878728_9035530062380969252_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WfRhwHiJBds/VIPnQ0QNemI/AAAAAAAAAfg/k6VPdytNoNA/s1600/10805692_621958878728_9035530062380969252_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Thursday several of my siblings and I (and Maria, our awesome international student who stayed with us during Thanksgiving) woke up bright and early in time to participate in the Turkey Trot at 8 am. Some people did the 1 mile fun run and some did the 5K. I did both with a mixture of walking and running. I ran more this year than I ever have before so that made me feel proud! haha<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKM3jX69_JE/VIPgEAtYSPI/AAAAAAAAAfE/9jDOy06IELQ/s1600/1690163_621960819838_314317922635923977_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKM3jX69_JE/VIPgEAtYSPI/AAAAAAAAAfE/9jDOy06IELQ/s1600/1690163_621960819838_314317922635923977_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oNRM9hVgamk/VIPgEPilUsI/AAAAAAAAAfA/TsWY_sjDjew/s1600/10410386_621966333788_2500730653463152494_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oNRM9hVgamk/VIPgEPilUsI/AAAAAAAAAfA/TsWY_sjDjew/s1600/10410386_621966333788_2500730653463152494_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>We came home to a delicious breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and bacon which my mom and Chris made for us while we were running - because they're just awesome like that! We ate and drank hot chocolate and wassail and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then it was time for all the Thanksgivingy meal prep and eating kind of stuff.<br /><br />Friday was another busy day with Dad taking us girls on the annual Black Friday shopathon. It's always a contest to see who can shop the longest - Dad or the girls. In the past, he has always won. I'm not sure who won this year but he texted us first to see if we were almost done so.....I'm thinking that means we won?? Anyhow it was lots of fun like always with tons of shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and a little snack of cheesecake to end the day.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9MlwWKfD6Y/VIPnH9h988I/AAAAAAAAAfY/ejtTZkNABEw/s1600/10481966_622667688268_1933928530164996776_n%2B(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9MlwWKfD6Y/VIPnH9h988I/AAAAAAAAAfY/ejtTZkNABEw/s1600/10481966_622667688268_1933928530164996776_n%2B(1).jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br />Saturday was a calm peaceful day where we slept in and ate pie and laid around and ....JUST KIDDING!!!!!!! Really, it was another super busy day of swim practice and piano practice and decorating the tree and house for Christmas and going to the Jekyll Island Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and having our dear friends the Vicents over for dinner. It ended so sweetly with my little sister falling asleep in my lap as we snuggled in a cozy chair and watched Hallmark Christmas movies. Sunday it was time to pack up and head back to Spartanburg!<br /><br />The holiday season always makes me realize how very, very blessed I am, not just materially (I mean I'm not rich but I have food, a great place to live, awesome clothes to wear, a car to drive - lots of things that people all around the world can only dream about and I just take them for granted) but also with so many wonderful family and friends, and a happy, busy life of pursuing my calling and passions. I love this song by Josh Groban - I feel that it is a great reminder of the kind of thankful attitude I want to have during this season.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9wgeokEsOc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9wgeokEsOc</a><br /><br />I hope you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas season and find a few moments in the midst of all the crazy hectic bustle of the season to quiet your heart and focus on just how much we all have to be thankful for.<br /><br />Love,<br />TiffanySingle and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-13921606370572397772014-11-23T12:24:00.001-08:002014-11-23T12:24:15.881-08:00Weekends are for...Sleep??Every weekend I make a resolution to catch up on sleep from my busy week and every weekend so much fun stuff comes up that I just can't say no to and I run around from thing to thing while simultaneously trying to squeeze in homework and swim practice and before I know it the weekend is over and I'm more behind on sleep than I was to begin with! Wow, that was a big run-on sentence. It just kept going and going....kind of like my life. Haha. But seriously. Also seriously, my weekends have been basically pretty much awesome lately! I'm making so many new friends, my sister lives in Greenville, people keep coming and visiting, and there's just so many interesting things to do! I want to tell you about the different fun weekends that have happened but I will have to do it in separate blog posts I think! One weekend by itself is quite enough for one post!<br /><br />A couple weekends ago, my aunt and a few of my cousins came to Greenville. Friday night, I went to Greenville and ate dinner and hung out with them and my grandparents. I spent the night with them and then left from there to go to swim practice Saturday morning. After swim practice, we went shopping in downtown Greenville. We walked and walked all around, took off down the Swamp Rabbit Trail for a while, looked in shops, walked around in the Reedy River Park, got coffee at Spill the Beans, and got gelato at Luna Rosa Cafe. It was SO much fun! Also, the fountains were randomly purple, so I dared Abby to put her hand in, which she gamely did. Then we decided such a great opportunity should not go to waste, so we finger painted on the walls in front of the fountain and dyed our hands purple. We had a blast seriously!!<br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5O9mGkIJ_Qc/VHI9KdvyRXI/AAAAAAAAAeA/r1d-ODIsu3U/s1600/1441203_620689677218_5251467913700663588_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5O9mGkIJ_Qc/VHI9KdvyRXI/AAAAAAAAAeA/r1d-ODIsu3U/s1600/1441203_620689677218_5251467913700663588_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nKEJ2H7RQ-M/VHI9HLcfnzI/AAAAAAAAAd4/HD-FK9WE9zE/s1600/1385350_620689597378_5529740030557423592_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nKEJ2H7RQ-M/VHI9HLcfnzI/AAAAAAAAAd4/HD-FK9WE9zE/s1600/1385350_620689597378_5529740030557423592_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-35EajJ6piU8/VHI-qwQ1L8I/AAAAAAAAAeU/xd7VWn_r_r8/s1600/10407208_620689622328_5805477839349386004_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-35EajJ6piU8/VHI-qwQ1L8I/AAAAAAAAAeU/xd7VWn_r_r8/s1600/10407208_620689622328_5805477839349386004_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvbBMSG8y3Y/VHI-n8hFYGI/AAAAAAAAAeM/YVRciUsmXn4/s1600/10676303_621681739118_9034115809548913701_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvbBMSG8y3Y/VHI-n8hFYGI/AAAAAAAAAeM/YVRciUsmXn4/s1600/10676303_621681739118_9034115809548913701_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After we got back, I had to hurry back to Spartanburg for one of my friends from school's birthday dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant and several of my school friends were there and we laughed so much, I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out. Or choke on our food. Or both.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sunday morning was church, followed by a three hour rehearsal for our chorus concert the next day. Then, (after some homework and cleaning and whatnot), I drove back to Greenville to my grandparents house for a movie night with my cousins. We had to take a little trip to Walmart first, because I mean, what else do you do at 10:00 on a Sunday night? Walmart trips are def where it's at. We were all so hyper - the trip involved skipping around the store looking for a movie and snacks and sneaking up on Aunt Rebecca and Audrey and scaring them, among other delights. Then we came back and watched Maleficent which was actually a really great movie. I definitely recommend it. Then we crashed into bed to get a few short hours of sleep before I had to leave for swim practice at 4:45 am the next morning! It was such a fun weekend &nbsp;but over so fast. I'll tell you about some of the other awesome weekends soon!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In other news, it is almost Thanksgiving break! And then comes Christmas!!! Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until next time!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love, Tiffany</div></div>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-76328471248687200452014-10-31T19:27:00.000-07:002014-10-31T19:27:15.627-07:00These Times They are A Changin'First of all, a moment of silence in recognition of the fact that I am actually blogging. I know you are all so proud. -----------------------------<br />&nbsp;Now that that is taken care of....down to the important business of *trying* to update you all on my life. Which is practically impossible because my life happens too fast for me to keep up with it, let alone tell you my lovely readers about it. Also, I don't really remember what I last told ya'll (although technically I suppose I *could* go back and look what my last post was but I mean seriously aint nobody got time for dat.) So.....anywho....after an incredible summer at Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC, (which I plan to tell you about in subsequent posts. Hopefully.) I moved to Spartanburg, SC to begin work on my MM in Piano Performance at Converse College. Since I completed my undergraduate degree there plus I grew up in this area, in many ways it has been like coming home, but in many ways it has been totally different as well. I am living with an awesome family that I have known since college (I went to school with their daughter) and who were my adopted family at that time. It was actually really really cool how God worked it all out because they had been living in Texas and randomly decided to move back to Spartanburg at the same time that I was going to be moving here and offered for me to rent a room from them. It's actually been so amazing because they make cookies and cook dinner for me and watch TV with me and keep me from missing my family by picking on me incessantly. (Yes, I'm talking about you, Duane). That's good though - I need to keep my verbal sparring skills in good shape.<br /><br />I love how my room turned out - it is super cozy and fun - sadly, I hardly ever get to hang out in it -except when I'm asleep which doesn't really count...<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---tuDqVNayM/VFQ5Grrj9yI/AAAAAAAAAcM/DJqr5u2sZ98/s1600/10565026_607197385878_280965870620979010_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---tuDqVNayM/VFQ5Grrj9yI/AAAAAAAAAcM/DJqr5u2sZ98/s1600/10565026_607197385878_280965870620979010_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0XL-9fP6Vo/VFQ46Cm3fuI/AAAAAAAAAbY/yEiRq3O8ZGA/s1600/1521613_607197355938_6896226392901697353_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0XL-9fP6Vo/VFQ46Cm3fuI/AAAAAAAAAbY/yEiRq3O8ZGA/s1600/1521613_607197355938_6896226392901697353_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X37gsLAkAPw/VFQ5E3zqc6I/AAAAAAAAAbs/qjmMteipnzc/s1600/10405633_607197091468_7880256577583018446_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X37gsLAkAPw/VFQ5E3zqc6I/AAAAAAAAAbs/qjmMteipnzc/s1600/10405633_607197091468_7880256577583018446_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JIvUMVxvGiE/VFQ5FRhYEkI/AAAAAAAAAbw/radJ12RjJdQ/s1600/10414465_607197111428_7685937261770044105_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JIvUMVxvGiE/VFQ5FRhYEkI/AAAAAAAAAbw/radJ12RjJdQ/s1600/10414465_607197111428_7685937261770044105_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFHpBM_dLYU/VFQ5EWrpZ-I/AAAAAAAAAbg/y-Ds_rxsM6Q/s1600/10447550_607197021608_839432180731715244_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GFHpBM_dLYU/VFQ5EWrpZ-I/AAAAAAAAAbg/y-Ds_rxsM6Q/s1600/10447550_607197021608_839432180731715244_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_I1WOWQCXk/VFQ5EwGAFUI/AAAAAAAAAbo/L7_Llgioykg/s1600/10462442_607197271108_3973331628910853125_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_I1WOWQCXk/VFQ5EwGAFUI/AAAAAAAAAbo/L7_Llgioykg/s1600/10462442_607197271108_3973331628910853125_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UgmVEVYcQNM/VFQ5Ftgo_TI/AAAAAAAAAb0/3AMPVJ2CW38/s1600/10509525_607197146358_6310989530179372162_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UgmVEVYcQNM/VFQ5Ftgo_TI/AAAAAAAAAb0/3AMPVJ2CW38/s1600/10509525_607197146358_6310989530179372162_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4uzTZ5X4Ew8/VFQ5F56rouI/AAAAAAAAAcA/5-nmDk-prvw/s1600/10552641_607196946758_6485834875065504148_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4uzTZ5X4Ew8/VFQ5F56rouI/AAAAAAAAAcA/5-nmDk-prvw/s1600/10552641_607196946758_6485834875065504148_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WFC6Tk5fwhk/VFQ5GNhzQeI/AAAAAAAAAcI/oxulflKbjxg/s1600/10557320_607196797058_8298206314561743465_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WFC6Tk5fwhk/VFQ5GNhzQeI/AAAAAAAAAcI/oxulflKbjxg/s1600/10557320_607196797058_8298206314561743465_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_VRF-rX32c/VFQ5GAaiieI/AAAAAAAAAcE/fG5zBuEoNHo/s1600/10561592_607197071508_5816383040558497878_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_VRF-rX32c/VFQ5GAaiieI/AAAAAAAAAcE/fG5zBuEoNHo/s1600/10561592_607197071508_5816383040558497878_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uqh6plv3URM/VFQ5GqyWMSI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/TCsKWvLD5lE/s1600/10600397_607196916818_6651503993121180889_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uqh6plv3URM/VFQ5GqyWMSI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/TCsKWvLD5lE/s1600/10600397_607196916818_6651503993121180889_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_f3ieZSE3Tw/VFQ5GzqTx7I/AAAAAAAAAcc/_z1mQ_kYj2E/s1600/10612655_607197321008_544646246147939494_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_f3ieZSE3Tw/VFQ5GzqTx7I/AAAAAAAAAcc/_z1mQ_kYj2E/s1600/10612655_607197321008_544646246147939494_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRb0qpU91R8/VFQ5HGqBPCI/AAAAAAAAAck/aEVhSMp7zSM/s1600/10620724_607197231188_8170397998152938390_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRb0qpU91R8/VFQ5HGqBPCI/AAAAAAAAAck/aEVhSMp7zSM/s1600/10620724_607197231188_8170397998152938390_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EBuERNKqw7I/VFQ5HPZ27fI/AAAAAAAAAcg/EeSeJDRO3Go/s1600/10622765_607197041568_3320182158078481656_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EBuERNKqw7I/VFQ5HPZ27fI/AAAAAAAAAcg/EeSeJDRO3Go/s1600/10622765_607197041568_3320182158078481656_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EkogJBLpK-I/VFQ5H8Wk27I/AAAAAAAAAcs/bxkOCDK-V3s/s1600/10629763_607196817018_148090646395494457_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EkogJBLpK-I/VFQ5H8Wk27I/AAAAAAAAAcs/bxkOCDK-V3s/s1600/10629763_607196817018_148090646395494457_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHPuccRFnA/VFQ5IDpj-FI/AAAAAAAAAcw/u56Fg_ZJpkU/s1600/10632712_607197301048_4669358858038794463_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHPuccRFnA/VFQ5IDpj-FI/AAAAAAAAAcw/u56Fg_ZJpkU/s1600/10632712_607197301048_4669358858038794463_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br />I'm loving being back in school - it is so incredibly amazing to spend each day learning and getting better at what I love. In addition to my regular classes, I am getting to audit a French class, which is really fun. I love languages and it is so cool to get the chance to study another one. I realize this will be a complete shock to everyone, but I have managed to fill my schedule pretty full! Between classes, homework, piano lessons and practice, duo piano lessons and practice, accompanying for my assistantship, church, and hanging out with my new friends, there is not much time left. Which is precisely why I decided to add something else to my schedule. Swimming. I've always enjoyed the water and always kind of wanted to be on a swim team so this summer, when I was at Brevard, I started swimming with a US Masters team there. I found out that I pretty much love it! It's kind of like piano actually - so much hard work and sometimes I don't want to do it, but at the same time it's amazingly addicting and I have this really strong desire to learn all I can and develop my skills as much as I can. So before I even moved here, I looked for a Masters team in the area and found Greenville Splash. I practice with the team 6 days a week - sometimes multiple practices a day. Yep. I know. I'm insane. But, I have this burning drive to do it and see how good I can get. Right now I am really bad - all my strokes need better technique and I don't know all the turns and dives and things and I am so super slow, it's embarrassing. The thing is though, all the people who have done anything with their lives say hard work pays off, saying something is impossible is just an excuse not to try, and the main key to succeeding at anything is not giving up. This is what keeps me going with piano, because goodness knows I am behind with it, too, seeing as I started lessons so late in life. So, anyhow, I'm just going to work my rear off with piano and swimming and hopefully it will pay off!<br /><br />&nbsp;I don't really know what all my life holds and how the future is all going to play out (see what I did there? Like piano play-ing?), but something I've been thinking about lately is how I want to make the most of every single opportunity and talent, no matter how small, I have. I firmly believe God gives us desires, talents, and opportunities for certain reasons that we can't always see at the time, but it's up to us to make the most of them and not waste them. We aren't guaranteed anything in the future and we can't know the exact paths that God is going to lead us down or the doors he is going to open for us or how he is going to use the lessons we are learning today in situations tomorrow but what we can do is seize every opportunity and make the most of each day. I don't want to waste my life - I want to accomplish something great with it! I don't know what exactly that is going to be, but I'm going to do my absolute best to not waste any chance to learn and grow God has given me, so I will be ready for whatever He has in store.<br /><br />And on that note (there I go again!), I better get back to getting my practicing, homework, and dryland swimming exercises done before this day is over and I've wasted this opportunity! :)<br /><br />Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!<br /><br />Love, Tiffany<br /><br />"<span class="versenum" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.</span>&nbsp;"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required."&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-54684558566498567932014-05-15T20:12:00.002-07:002014-05-15T20:12:34.229-07:00W.W.B.A.World's Worst Blogger Award. Yep. I think I've won. It has been more than a YEAR since my last post. SMH. Actually I DO write lots of posts...in my MIND. It is just getting them actually typed out and published that I need to work on. I wish someone would invent a device that hooks up to your mind and copies down the information that you want it to. That way I could be driving or cleaning or whatever and get my blog posts written, journal entries completed, lists compiled, why I could probably even find time to write a book! So, Geniuses - I'm going to need you to get on that. You could be RICH! And famous. Just give me a little credit and 62.3% of your profits for coming up with the idea.<br /><br />Sooooooo....a lot has happened since my last post and it is simply too overwhelming to try to catch you all up, so you're just going to have to try to guess from various comments and stories and newsy bits what may or may not have transpired in the past few months (aka Years!). 2 Items of Interest I will tell you now though:<br /><br />1. I'm going to Converse College in Spartanburg, SC in August to pursue my MM in piano performance<br /><br />and<br /><br />2. I'm going to Brevard Music Festival this summer.<br /><br />I am VERY excited about both of these developments!! :D<br /><br />I leave June 8th for Brevard which means I have three weeks, 2 days, and some hours (and a few minutes) left at home. There is so much I want to do and need to do in that amount of time that it makes my head spin!! And I plan to enjoy every minute of it! :D<br /><br />Random funny moment of the day: My little sister came up to my Mom, gave her a hug and said very sleepily and confidingly, "Mom, thank you so much for hatching me and not letting me die in your stomach!" Bahahahahahahaha Little siblings are so funny. I am still laughing over that one!<br /><br />I want to start posting regularly again BUT I am not making any promises!<br /><br />Love,<br />Tiffany<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fsWJWzsVBEo/U3WCDL9zerI/AAAAAAAAAZs/NvrbHY3Wpm4/s1600/tifftoday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fsWJWzsVBEo/U3WCDL9zerI/AAAAAAAAAZs/NvrbHY3Wpm4/s1600/tifftoday.jpg" /></a></div><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-60789387995123188032013-03-19T04:45:00.000-07:002013-03-19T04:46:35.971-07:00LOST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A4KUq7YZPhQ/UUdmHOr9nAI/AAAAAAAAAXE/WOXRvQEJP2I/s1600/count_rugen_dst_sucks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" psa="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A4KUq7YZPhQ/UUdmHOr9nAI/AAAAAAAAAXE/WOXRvQEJP2I/s320/count_rugen_dst_sucks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This picture depicts my sentiments on Daylight Savings Time exactly. I love the evening being longer and all but I just think they should pick 1 time and stick with it. It messes up your head and body and clocks and life too much to have it switching back and forth. And let's face it, the days are going to grow longer and shorter naturally, so why do we need to tamper with it? I don't really think it helps anything and it sure has made me COMPLETELY exhausted!! (or maybe that is just my inhumane schedule...who knows??)</div>Anyway, that is my 2 cents worth! (And just in case you're wondering, I know a lot of people who agree! Just read facebook the week after the time changes!)<br /><br />So, on a more positive note, it looks like we have finally found a house that everything is actually going to work out with for us to buy, so we will be moving in just a couple weeks! Pretty exciting! (well, and stressful and a wee bit sad because I love the house and neighborhood we are in now but let's just focus on the positives...) I haven't actually seen the house except in pictures but it has a place for me to practice and a place for me to sleep, so what more do I need? :) I haven't actually seen the last 3 houses before we moved into them, so I guess it is in keeping with the tradition. <br /><br />A week and a half til Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!! But who's counting?? ;)Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-49445871042698440552013-03-05T07:46:00.000-08:002013-03-05T07:46:02.470-08:00A June BrideThe BIG news for this week is that my little Jophers is engaged!! FINALLY! :) I will be so happy to officially have Abby as a member of our family. She is already a sister and dear, dear friend, so this will just be making it all official. The date is set for June, and you know what they say "When you marry in June, you're a bride, all your life...." (Song from the Musical <em>Seven brides for Seven brothers</em>). Ever since I saw that musical and that song with all of the girls twirling around in their pantaloons and singing&nbsp;dreamily of their wedding day, I have always wanted to be a June bride. So, it just makes it even better that Joe's and Abby's wedding will be in that felicitious month so perfectly suited to all things matrimonial. Seriously, though I am so happy for them and look forward to their wedding with great excitement and anticipation!! :D<br /><br />If you want to see the song that I am talking about, check this out:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/faQHDd1KEwg?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faQHDd1KEwg<br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-43024700716059141972013-02-23T08:17:00.000-08:002013-02-23T08:17:11.420-08:00Mama Debbie's Daily DoinsThis has been a pretty ordinary week. Well - except for the day OFF on Monday!! Woot woot! That was nice and rather Un-ordinary. But, as far as what has gone on - nothing earth shattering has really happened. I spent my day off practicing (I know you are all SO shocked right now) and the rest of the week has been full of, well, you know, practicing, working, teaching, etc. I did make some interesting discoveries this week though.<br /><br />1. Juicing is a GREAT way to get energy!!! My sister gave my mom a juicer for Christmas, but we have really just now been using it. I stick carrots, apples, oranges, spinach, celery, strawberries, a little lemon or lime - basically just whatever fruits or veggies we have - in there and Presto! out comes my daily serving of health! (Little note though - NEVER juice bananas or avocados. My mom has made it clear it will RUIN the juicer. Just a little tip&nbsp;- at no extra charge! :) Seriously, it is an easy way to get your vegetable and fruit servings and it gives you a big boost of energy! I am trying to have a glass or two every day.<br /><br />2. Spotify really is as amazing as every one says. I don't know why, but I never really got into it. The other day, I finally for real tried it and the verdict is it is the best thing to happen to recorded music since...well...maybe ever! I know that you all already realized that a long time ago, but just rejoice with me anyway! :) <br /><br /><br />3. I am NEVER going to have enough time for all things I need and want to do. Oh wait. I already knew that....<br /><br />Have a fabulous weekend!<br /><br />P.S. - In case you are wondering about the title........it is from a Good Luck Charlie show in which Amy starts a Mommy blog and competes with Debbie Dooley on having the best blog. It is the title of Debbie Dooley's blog which Amy makes fun of. I just threw it in there for the randomness and curiosity-inducing factor....Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-56334087139750527442013-02-15T14:09:00.000-08:002013-02-15T14:09:10.709-08:00And the Greatest of These is...Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I hope your day was fabulous and filled with chocolate, friends, family, flowers, and fun!! I love Valentine's Day for several reasons:<br /><br />1. My Dad always gives us each one of those heart shaped boxes of chocolates.<br /><br />2. My students always give me lots of sweet valentines and candy and make me feel so loved!<br /><br />3. My mom always makes us a special dinner and decorates the house and table pretty.<br /><br />4. It is a great excuse to eat extra chocolate and candy that I might normally feel guilty for eating. There is no guilt on Valentine's Day! ;)<br /><br />5. It is a great chance for me to do something special for the people I love.<br /><br />And on that note, this Valentine's Day, I got up&nbsp;at&nbsp;early&nbsp;&nbsp;to make cupcakes and valentines for the special people in my life - well, not technically ALL of them - just a few of the local representatives!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzBAISsFQiI/UR6vp-Q4EJI/AAAAAAAAAWs/hXpyu8vnFAA/s1600/555786_560107833718_1705201243_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzBAISsFQiI/UR6vp-Q4EJI/AAAAAAAAAWs/hXpyu8vnFAA/s320/555786_560107833718_1705201243_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NOFpEacvQKE/UR6vruALTgI/AAAAAAAAAW0/_Ec8fUSFWpE/s1600/285327_560109824728_2090113267_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NOFpEacvQKE/UR6vruALTgI/AAAAAAAAAW0/_Ec8fUSFWpE/s320/285327_560109824728_2090113267_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Then it was off to school and then to Macon for a piano lesson. Tonight we are having some friends over and having our special family Valentine's Dinner. Italian = YUM!!<br /><br />While all of the goodies and cute cards are nice, I also like to remember that Valentine's is a great time to celebrate not only my love for my family and friends and their love for me - but how much God loves me. I was thinking the other day that sometimes I feel like I constantly have to earn others' love and that I am constantly in danger of losing it if I don't measure up. Now, this may not always be true, but we all have friends who we thought would love us forever but who for whatever reason have now rejected us or are angry with us or&nbsp;have somehow stopped loving us.&nbsp;BUT, then I was thinking how we don't have to do anything to get God's love. He loves us unconditionally even if we never love Him back. Even when we mess up over and over again, all we have to do is claim Jesus' blood and He sees us as perfect and spotless - covered in Jesus' righteousness. He never stops loving us and there is nothing we can do or not do to make Him love us more. Now, if you ask me, THAT is something worth celebrating!Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-1194054440959931682013-01-12T17:33:00.002-08:002013-01-12T17:33:56.642-08:00{We} had ourselves a merry little Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLr16YWIy2Q/UPIOBO0Bi8I/AAAAAAAAAWM/63KPJD_xb8I/s1600/16681_10151164735850740_2092951088_n+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLr16YWIy2Q/UPIOBO0Bi8I/AAAAAAAAAWM/63KPJD_xb8I/s320/16681_10151164735850740_2092951088_n+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I am officially in withdrawal now. Christmas is over for another year. Sniff. Our tree is down, all of the cookies are eaten, and it is back to "real" life - whatever that is. We had a good Christmas though...it was a little different than normal but still wonderful. This year, I was working right up until Christmas Eve - actually even then, I was working because I was responsible for the music for the service that night. I also did not finish my shopping until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, I got up in the wee hours of the morning to sneak downstairs and surprise everyone by filling their stockings with goodies. It was fun playing Santy Claus. Then, I crept back upstairs and crashed into my bed from which I did not emerge for several hours. I hardly ever sleep in, so I decided to indulge in this luxury on Christmas morning. They had to wake me up for the traditional family breakfast at 9:30! Also, I was officially a slacker this Christmas. I did not wrap any presents until Christmas morning!! Thankfully, Hannah came to my rescue or I would still probably be wrapping them. We did not start opening presents until 12:30 or 1:00 and it took a few hours to be done. Our parents were not able to give us gifts this year, but we were all imbued with an extra shot of Christmas Spirit, and there seemed to be no shortage of presents under the tree. In fact, my little brother said, "There are more presents this year than when Mom and dad give them to us!" My dad was quick to suggest that this become a new family tradition. My brothers love to give my Dad gag gifts - this year he was treated to his very own set of Rudolph antlers and glowing nose and his very own dollar tree plunger!! My brother Josh is also graced with gag gifts each year, and this year, he was super excited to get his own special pair of Sponge Bob Underpants!!! :) I know his wife, Kristi, was especially delighted! ;)<br /><br /><br />The day after Christmas, I headed to Greenville to spend a couple days with my grandparents. It was great to see them, and my grandmother was doing amazingly well! I enjoyed working puzzles with my grandpa, talking with my grandma, and watching movies with the both of them. I also got to relax and lay around, which was amazing - I NEVER get to do that! :) <br /><br />One of the most special things that happened is God did a miracle for us this Christmas - He sold our house in Albany. It is kind of a long story, but just suffice it to say, God did the impossible, solved a crisis in our lives, and gave us all a most wonderful Christmas present.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--EVVnlQmu6M/UPIOUvyVazI/AAAAAAAAAWc/QaZEeIHp1G8/s1600/462309_10151338042360777_711919736_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--EVVnlQmu6M/UPIOUvyVazI/AAAAAAAAAWc/QaZEeIHp1G8/s320/462309_10151338042360777_711919736_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Hope you all had a very merry Christmas, too............and Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pWClU48FkGY/UPIOJLjOaII/AAAAAAAAAWU/oNLD9CfqaRk/s1600/265921_4183926126463_389944721_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pWClU48FkGY/UPIOJLjOaII/AAAAAAAAAWU/oNLD9CfqaRk/s320/265921_4183926126463_389944721_o.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-66764136424274360042012-12-21T12:49:00.001-08:002012-12-21T12:49:11.915-08:00How I wish Jack Frost were nipping at my nose...I have decided I do NOT like South Georgia weather. Actually, I already knew that. I've just re-confirmed it. When it is Christmas and/or winter, it should be cold. Period. The past couple days have been a little nippier, but still no wheres near where I think December is supposed to feel like. I want to wear sweaters, tights, boots, scarves, hats, coats!! Oh well, hopefully I will go up North for grad school. Until then, I will just pretend it is cold.<br /><br />My schedule has been crazzzzzy and I have been holding on for dear life. Who needs to go for roller coaster rides when your life is a real one?? I have enjoyed playing at the mall though and have even been rewarded with some&nbsp; tips from kind shoppers!! ;) Maybe they will help fund my Starbucks addiction...Speaking of which, I have discovered two wonderful new things about Starbucks.<br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 1. They have amazing double expresso drinks that will give you amazing levels of energy.<br /><br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 2. They are handing out little cards where if you buy 5 holiday drinks, you get 1 free! I got my last<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; sticker today - free drink here I come!! :)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8JEud6Jb39c/UNTEasxFreI/AAAAAAAAAVc/t_wpMFH9Kpc/s1600/179354_10151133513575740_450202904_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8JEud6Jb39c/UNTEasxFreI/AAAAAAAAAVc/t_wpMFH9Kpc/s320/179354_10151133513575740_450202904_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i_4ko3Jct0o/UNTEVasQlFI/AAAAAAAAAVM/SeVUTmhil80/s1600/12124_10151137300070740_1101897066_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i_4ko3Jct0o/UNTEVasQlFI/AAAAAAAAAVM/SeVUTmhil80/s320/12124_10151137300070740_1101897066_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I have started a new Christmas tradition of reading a Christmas story to Matt and Bethany in the evening. I think it is even more fun for me than them! I love children's Christmas stories!! We need to squeeze in Christmas baking and games and movies and fun times. There are only a few days left to cram all of the Christmas cheer and activities and fun and craziness in to.<br /><br />ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! National crisis here!! I have not yet watched ELF, the most incredible Christmas movie of all time! I did start it yesterday when we were baking gingerbread, but still.....This terrible crime must be remedied soon.<br />On Sunday was the lessons and carols service at my church. It was the first lessons and carols for which I have been music director, so it was pretty exciting (and nerve-wracking!) We have been working our tails off for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, we got a late start working on Christmas music because I did not begin as music director there until October. However, we worked hard with the time we had and had 2+ rehearsals per week, with many of the choir members meeting outside of rehearsal for their own practice sessions. The result on Sunday was very nice. I was pleased, the choir was pleased, the church was pleased. I call it a successful first lessons and carols service. Afterwards, there was a very fun Christmas party at one of the choir member's houses. It was the first (and probably only) Christmas party that I have actually been able to attend this year, so I really enjoyed it an extra bunch. They had this amazing coffee there made with a Senseo maker. That was the first time I had sampled coffee from a Senseo, and I have to say, I now really want Santy Claus to bring me my very own Senseo coffee maker.<br /><br />On a random side-note, you never know what you may find at our house. The other day, I took a break from practicing and walked into the kitchen to get a drink and this is what I saw:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o0CGn8cIEYs/UNTE9EavMPI/AAAAAAAAAVs/IT-kV2pJTkQ/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o0CGn8cIEYs/UNTE9EavMPI/AAAAAAAAAVs/IT-kV2pJTkQ/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>&nbsp;Apparently, cleaning the kitchen is not enough for some people and they feel the need to also turn it into an arctic scene for a coke commerical...<br /><br /><br />With all of the craziness going on, it has been difficult to fit in enough practice time, but I have been trying. Pretty much every second that I am not running around like a manaic, I am sitting at the piano, trying to make sense of all of this:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0yGJxe-tmc/UNTEefW5AEI/AAAAAAAAAVk/G6dqOKev7MY/s1600/483628_555208017988_495737384_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0yGJxe-tmc/UNTEefW5AEI/AAAAAAAAAVk/G6dqOKev7MY/s320/483628_555208017988_495737384_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />P.S. - I have been working this post for a while and today the weather has turned cold and Jack Frost actually is nipping at my nose - at least in a South Georgian kind of way!! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aQfsLqN_hEE/UNTEYME4bzI/AAAAAAAAAVU/teMA666ctRI/s1600/16807_555724403148_1190977256_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aQfsLqN_hEE/UNTEYME4bzI/AAAAAAAAAVU/teMA666ctRI/s320/16807_555724403148_1190977256_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-51353721657017966902012-12-10T11:58:00.005-08:002012-12-10T11:58:51.221-08:00That Explains a LotI stumbled across this article from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/achenblog/wp/2012/12/07/piano-lessons/<br /><br /><br />It explains in some small way how difficult being a serious pianist is. <br /><br /><em>Before I started taking piano, I had always imagined the Conservatory students to have it so good – I mean, for their homework, they get to play guitar, or jam on their saxophone, or sing songs! What fun! Compared to sitting in lab for four hours studying the optical properties of minerals, or discussing Lucretian theories of democracy and politics, I would play piano any day.</em><br /><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em>But after almost three years of piano at Oberlin, I understand just how naïve this is. Playing music for credit is not “easy” or “fun” or “magical” or “lucky.” Mostly, it’s really freakin’ hard. It requires you to pick apart your piece, play every little segment over and over, dissect it, tinker with it, cry over it, feel completely lame about it, then get over yourself and start practicing ...again. You have to be precise and diligent, creative and robotic. And then – after all of this – you have to re-discover the emotional beauty in the piece, and use it in your performance.</em><br /><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em>Yeah, good luck with that. There’s no way, right?</em><br /><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em>Except that so many people here can do that, and do it every semester. I swear, from just my 2-credit piano lessons, I’ve gained an entirely new respect for the musicians here at Oberlin. I honestly don’t know how they do it – how they play their music with such bravery and intensity, don’t buckle under the pressure. You have to be such a strong and confident individual to be successful in the Conservatory. Don’t get me wrong, you have to be strong and confident to be successful in just about anything you do – but with music, there’s a deeper emotional component to your failures and successes. If you fail a chemistry test, it’s because you either didn’t study enough, or just aren’t that good at chemistry (the latter of which is totally understandable). But if you fail at music, it can say something about your character. It could be because you didn’t practice enough – but, more terrifyingly, it could be because you aren’t resilient enough. Mastering chemistry requires diligence and smarts, but mastering a piano piece requires diligence and smarts, plus creativity, plus the immense capacity to both overcome emotional hurdles, and, simultaneously, to use that emotional component to bring the music alive.</em>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-32058512705825132302012-12-01T16:55:00.000-08:002012-12-01T16:55:45.233-08:00It's the Most Wonderful .. er I mean.. the Busiest Time of YearI've decided that I'm going to stop making resolutions about how I'm going to do better about blogging. Maybe I will actually blog MORE if I <em>don't </em>make resolutions. It's worth a try anyhow. Anywho, life has been its normal extremely crazy self except with some abnormal extra craziness thrown in including some difficult trials which I don't want to talk about because I want this to be a generally happy post and it won't be if I start talking about all the sad stuff. Anyway, MoVing On...so, Thanksgiving has already come and gone!! Unbelievable!&nbsp;We had a "small" Thanksgiving for us - in that we had no company and even some of our family wasn't there - namely Josh, Kristi, and Ashlyn. That meant we had a microscopic group of only 10 people plus Sofi. We actually fit around one table this year with even a couple seats left over.&nbsp;We probably should have taken a picture to commemorate that epic moment but we were all too busy stuffing our faces. <br /><br />I have decided the reason I never feel rested after a "break" is because they seem to be even busier than regular life. Wednesday was the first day out of school. I got up at like 5:30 and got ready to go to my piano lesson in Macon. I was gone to it from 7 until 4:30 ish, then when I got back, Hannah and I ran/ walked a couple miles. After supper, I made the apple and pumpkin pies (from <em>scratch</em>) and did a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember anymore. At some point, I crashed into bed. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y5Wx7Xqu_mw/ULdrJfCQk8I/AAAAAAAAAU4/Z_eIvTIhJNw/s1600/pies2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y5Wx7Xqu_mw/ULdrJfCQk8I/AAAAAAAAAU4/Z_eIvTIhJNw/s320/pies2012.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />Thanksgiving morning, I was up at 4:00 am so I could get in a couple hours of practicing and some other stuff before we left at 8&nbsp;to run in the Turkey Trot. I did my first 5K - still can't run all of it but I did a mixture of walking and running. Hannah and I did it together which made it extra fun. We came back and ate some of my Mom's famous pumpkin pancakes and bacon and then had the most relaxing part of the whole break - snuggling on the couch with Sofi, sipping hot chocolate, and watching the Macy's Day Parade.&nbsp; I haven't been able to sit and watch it in a long time so that was pretty nice. Thanksgiving was the funnest and most relaxing of all the days because I also got to play a family game and watch a movie. All of those things have not happened in the same day in at least 47 weeks. We also went on a super long bike ride.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nxu8640SPLg/ULdrDwGJNrI/AAAAAAAAAUw/k35kVwjznwo/s1600/5k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nxu8640SPLg/ULdrDwGJNrI/AAAAAAAAAUw/k35kVwjznwo/s320/5k.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Friday, I was up early again, trying to get some work and practicing done before I headed out to work/ teach at Jamestown Piano from 10 until 6. It was the first time I have worked instead of shopped on Black Friday but I didn't have any money to spend anyway, so it was OK. Plus, I got to decorate the store for Christmas. The rest of the weekend brought more practicing, decorating for Christmas, playing at the mall, church music preparation, music directing at church, exercising, and at least 103 other things that were on my list which I no longer remember. I just know it was crazy busy and exhausting!!<br /><br />Christmas is such a busy time of year for me. As if my current schedule was not insane enough, I now have rehearsal on Thursday night in addition to Tuesday night (and we will have even more if the music is not up to par by the Festival of Lessons and Carols service), all the responsibilites of special Christmas services/music at church to plan and prepare, playing at the mall for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays - and all the music for that to practice,&nbsp;my students' Christmas recital, and a million other random things. Plus, I have to keep up with my 4 and a half jobs, all my practicing for my lessons, grad school prep studying, exercising, etc., etc., etc. I am also in charge of Christmas cheer at my house so I need to get on that. Yes. Hopefully, you get the picture. According to the movie ELF, elves only need 40 minutes of sleep a night. It is time for me to speedily develop elven characteristics. I will add that to my to-do list for today. Well, I had better go practice!!Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-45608922487920090022012-09-09T15:14:00.001-07:002012-09-09T15:14:17.041-07:0024 hoursNo, I'm not dead. I know that is a shock, seeing as I haven't posted in a million years, but actually it is true. It's just called My.Life. Which is to say, my very crazy, super busy, hectic, exhausting life where there is not much time for such pastimes like blogging. This is very unfortunate though because I have actually been thinking like a blogger and wanting to blog! I have written so many amazing blog post in my mind, you would not even believe their awesomeness. Sadly they just never made it here.<br /><br />For the past 24 hours, I have been spending time with my family at Hilton Head Island. They get to enjoy it for a whole week but sadly 24 hours was all I could squeeze out. I came Saturday night after spending the morning and afternoon practicing. It is bad enough I have to miss Sunday - I couldn't afford to miss Saturday too. Oh, the joys of being a pianist. I have to leave tonight to get back to the daily grind of all my multiple jobs and hours and hours of practicing and whatever else it is that I do each day. The little bit of time I have been able to be here has been fabulous though! We went to the Crazy Crab last night for dinner, which was Delish. I LOVE, love, Love the Crazy Crab!! We have gone there for years whenever we come to HHI, and it holds so many memories. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is super cool with a huge fish tank and a sea diver and whatnot. Today we spent at the beach which was incredible. The waves are so much better here than at SSI. Mom and I took a couple walks and I took a couple naps on the beach and just chillaxed and soaked up sun. Before we went, I went on a walk/run for about an hour. It makes me proud just to get it in.<br /><br />After I eat some delicious hamburgers with my incredible family (plus Maddie and Dianna which are basically like extensions of my family), I will head back. Fortunately it is short drive. I am about to research the closest Starbucks so a Pumpkin Spice Latte or a White Peppermint Mocha can keep me company on the way back.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: magenta;">What is your favorite vacationing spot? Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?</span><br /><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span>I am a beach babe all the way!! :)<br /><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span style="color: magenta;">What is your favorite fall drink?</span>Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-51095506456346103632012-07-06T08:33:00.001-07:002012-07-06T08:33:33.119-07:00Pizza My HeartOK. 2 things.<br /><br />1. <i>Pizza My Heart</i> is an awesome movie. We watched it the other day on Netflix and it was SO cute! It is basically a twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet story about two Italian families - the Prestolanis and the Montebellos who have been at odds with each other for hundreds of years. It takes place in Verona, New Jersey, (as opposed to Verona, Italy like <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>) where the two families own competing Pizzerias. Gina Prestolani and Joe Montebello meet and fall in love. As to what happens - you will have to watch it for yourself to find out! I will tell you this though - sparks fly (literally!), hearts are won, broken, and mended, and lots and lots of delicious Pizza is made! If you want to find out more about the movie you can go to the International Movie Database:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446016/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446016/</a><br /><br />I feel that I should also mention what a fun day that was when we watched the movie. It was very, very rainy, thanks to tropical storm Debby and we snuggled in with our computers, blankets, and coffee to watch it. It was so cozy &nbsp;with the rain pouring outside and us all curled up inside! (Not to mention the movie was adorable!!) After we watched the movie, my mom made us waffles for lunch, which were delicious!! BUT, I have to say that despite how delicious the waffles were, what I REALLY wanted was pizza!! And not just any pizza but delicious homemade pizza!! Which brings me to my second point:<br /><br />2. A couple weeks ago, we made some AMAZING homemade pizza!! It was rainy that day too, and homemade pizza was just the right thing. Kristi and Josh came over, and my Mom, Kristi, Hannah, and I all worked together to make these delicious pizzas. Each one was like a work of art! :)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DjyBMRDqQyc/T_cCo4Nvv8I/AAAAAAAAAUA/s8S3IAEJn_c/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DjyBMRDqQyc/T_cCo4Nvv8I/AAAAAAAAAUA/s8S3IAEJn_c/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6V9iYxIx8U/T_cC2WMYbfI/AAAAAAAAAUM/Hwc9P2dxMVU/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6V9iYxIx8U/T_cC2WMYbfI/AAAAAAAAAUM/Hwc9P2dxMVU/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JmXvgV9ERhM/T_cDECPektI/AAAAAAAAAUU/oE1ijnhU938/s1600/008+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JmXvgV9ERhM/T_cDECPektI/AAAAAAAAAUU/oE1ijnhU938/s320/008+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-CoglRXss0/T_cDQWSFnvI/AAAAAAAAAUc/lLOrvFjqRd8/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-CoglRXss0/T_cDQWSFnvI/AAAAAAAAAUc/lLOrvFjqRd8/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c6vyRftmjjo/T_cDbcBB9SI/AAAAAAAAAUk/Gghp0QovWm0/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c6vyRftmjjo/T_cDbcBB9SI/AAAAAAAAAUk/Gghp0QovWm0/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I have been forgetting to ask my questions at the end of each post. So - here goes! :)<br /><br />1. Is there a really cute movie you have watched recently?<br /><br />2. Do you ever make homemade pizza? What are your favorite toppings to put on pizza?<br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I like to put lots and lots of cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and black olives. Also, Italian Seasoning and &nbsp; &nbsp; <br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Parmesan.<br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2265317947503563400.post-54827631470009545312012-06-28T05:47:00.002-07:002012-06-28T05:47:27.300-07:00Wrappin' it UpLately, I have been having lots of fun concocting delicious lunches for myself. Mostly, my creations have taken the form of wraps. Here are a few of my recent experiments:<br /><br />This delicious wrap consisted of a Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Wrap filled with my own special Tuna recipe. I mixed together tuna, mayonnaise, a squirt of dijon mustard, olives, avocado, grapes, and pecans and put it inside the wrap, along with tomato slices and green-leaf lettuce.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-odGSEl9tsrg/T-xLxdMpRpI/AAAAAAAAATg/etU3bvv-awE/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-odGSEl9tsrg/T-xLxdMpRpI/AAAAAAAAATg/etU3bvv-awE/s320/044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />This is a traditional wrap with a Southwestern Flair. It consisted of a whole wheat wrap with ham, Mexican 4-cheese, salsa, tomatoes, and a little ranch. I then fried it in the skillet in some butter (Butter makes everything better).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iSUKoZp7l3I/T-xR5wzZswI/AAAAAAAAATs/wXNTEJB9cN8/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iSUKoZp7l3I/T-xR5wzZswI/AAAAAAAAATs/wXNTEJB9cN8/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1DTQDzvznmM/T-xSGv_xzfI/AAAAAAAAAT0/6k6FfsOA9Vs/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1DTQDzvznmM/T-xSGv_xzfI/AAAAAAAAAT0/6k6FfsOA9Vs/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Another wrap I made that is not pictured was made with a Spinach wrap, turkey, provolone cheese, avocado, ranch, and tomato. I then fried it in the skillet.<br /><br />All of these wraps were absolutely DELICIOUS!! I heartily recommend them. Actually, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. How much longer til lunch??!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Single and Loving it!http://www.blogger.com/profile/06033411699911388059noreply@blogger.com1